the fall
by daddybats
Summary: shayera, wally, and bruce are trapped under a fallen building in metropolis with no means of communication. to make matters worse, bruce is hurt. he's hurt worse than any of them realize. /UPDATED (7/15)
1. waking up

"Bats? Can you hear me? Bats?" Flash whimpered softly in the corner as he fixed his eyes on his fallen comrade. He wasn't sure how much time had passed.

The black figure, lying facedown on the concrete, had given no indication of life or death. His cape covered his face.

"Batman please, please do something. Move, curse, anything!"

Batman began to stir.

"Bruce!" Flash shrieked speeding towards his battered body, easing him into a flat position.

"What happened?" He asked.

Bruce tried in vain to sit up, a movement that would only further agitate his broken ribs, but the action was soon shot down by Wally.

"What do you think you're doing? Keep your hands off me!"

While Flash couldn't say that he wasn't hurt by Bruce's outburst of anger, he knew that he was in no condition to fight him.

"You have extensive injuries, and shouldn't be moving around. I know I'm no doctor, but at least I have the ability to care, unlike some people," Wally shot back, not letting his confidence slip too much.

"Now is not the time, gentlemen," Shayera stated, inserting herself into the mix to check Batman's injuries. "We have to care for one another, not fight amongst each other. We have a duty to fill. One of protecting others, including our teammates," she finished, giving each of them a scolding glare.

"I don't need any protection," Bruce said once again trying to sit up, only to be shot down again, but this time the protesting coming from his aching body.

"You've never been one to make reckless decisions, please don't start now."

Shayera quickly conducted a brief examination, poking and prodding at the bones to feel for fractures and contusions.

The wincing and groaning showed how excruciating of a procedure it turned out to be.

"I'm sorry Bruce, just hold tight, I'm almost done," she said making her way slowly down into his legs, feeling upwards of his thighs, down through his ankles and feet.

She looked up at him, not nearly as optimistic as she had once looked.

"Just say it Shayera, I don't need your lovesick sympathy."

"I counted 8 fractures. Three came from ribs, your right leg is completely crushed, and your left hand is broken. Nothing you can't handle right?" She shot at him, not to be intimidated by his sarcasm.

"Pain is psychological. As soon as you surpass your own fears of pain, you can survive anything," he said, sure to snatch the last word as usual.

"Okay, so I guess Batman doesn't want our care and affection. Is there any way to get out of here? I don't know how long I'll be able to last down here with him," Flash snarked, offering a sarcastic glare to the king of all sarcasm himself.

"No, I already checked all the walls, they've been reinforced."

"There has to be a way out," Bruce said surveying the walls, "there always is."

"Don't you have anything in that belt that could provide any kind of help?" Flash said expecting some good news for the first time since he saw the light.

"I have handheld knives, not full-length chainsaws, Wally," Bruce blankly stated, continuing to inspect the walls, as if staring at them long enough would make them crumble.

"Bruce there really is no need to be rude. I know you're in pain, but please try not to hoist your pain on us," Shayera said trying to put out the fire burning dangerously hot inside Bruce.

"How long have we known each other Shayera? How have you not found a way to deal with me yet?"

"I choose to believe that there is good living in all of us."

Her last remarks only further angered him.

"All the good that was once inside of me died with my parents in Crime Alley. You wouldn't dare try to justify yourself if you'd knew what I've lost."

Shayera had decided not to pursue the already agitated Bruce, and instead focus her efforts on caring for his injuries.

"If you don't want me to make you feel better emotionally, at least help me assist you in physically feeling better," she said crouching down, gently laying her hand on Bruce's.

Bruce sighed. "I can feel the bone protruding from my leg."

"Okay, just walk me through fixing it," Shayera sighed, growing increasingly distressed as Bruce's pain seemed to escalate.

"Okay, you'll have to get the fabric off of my leg. There are zippers at the back, but there's no time. Just rip it. Once you get through that layer, there are shin guards, remove them."

Shayera intricately followed Bruce's careful instructions as Bruce was spitting them.

"Then, you'll have to set the bone."

She looked up confused, as Bruce braced himself for the pain that was soon to follow. She motioned for Wally to assist.

"Talk to him. Keep him distracted," Shayera ordered as she lightly grabbed his thigh with one hand, and his shin with the other, preparing to re-insert the bone.

"Um, what am I supposed to say to him? I don't even feel comfortable talking to him when his sanity isn't on the line," Flash said avoiding any and all eye contact with him.

"Wally, look at me," Bruce said forcing the heist of contact to be broken. "Talk to me like you do in the Watchtower. As far as you know, we aren't even here anymore. Just be the same buffoon you've always been."

In that moment, the man who you would imagine would be the most terrified, was keeping the rest of the team sane.

"You're stronger than this. You both are," Bruce said giving both of them a reassuring eye. "Don't be the first to prove me otherwise."

Bruce's hand, which was gently lying on his chest, gliding to the rhythm of his own heartbeat, was soon intertwined with Wally's.

"This is going to hurt me so much more than it's going to hurt you," she said bracing herself as well.

"Somehow I doubt that."

Giving his friend one last glance, she silently counted to three in her head.

Bruce's screams must have echoed for hours. The bone had now been set gingerly back in its place, but as far as Bruce was concerned, that was the farthest thing from his mind.

"How is he?" Flash asked, soon noticing the hellish grip that had become virtually limp.

"He's out."

"Y'know, not wishing Bats pain or anything, but it's actually kind of peaceful, not having a contradicting voice in your ear all the time."

"I won't argue with you there Wally, but he's still our partner, and more importantly, he's our friend."

"Maybe we could take this opportunity to work on getting in contact with our friends in the sky," Flash said taking his only communication with the Watchtower out of his ear.

"Here, maybe you can fix it. It's been nothing but static since I woke up."

Shayera grabbed the earpiece with her shaking hands.

"Are you alright?" He asked grabbing her hand.

"I think I'm still a little shaken up from earlier," she said glancing over at their still unconscious friend.

"He's strong. He'll make it through this. We all will," Wally said trying to refocus.

"I know, it's just so hard seeing him like this. I guess I'm so used to him holding us up."

"Me too," Flash said letting his head fall, soon realizing how much he had missed Batman's cunning remarks about his overwhelming cheerfulness.

"Okay, back to the task at hand," Shayera said interrupting both of their moments of reminiscence. "You said it was all static, right?"

"Yeah, no sign of intelligent life on the other end whatsoever."

"Mine is too. Do you want to grab Batman's?"

Flash looked suddenly confused as if Shayera was asking him to take on such a task as blowing up the sun.

"O-Okay," Flash said with a sudden new-found shake in his voice.

He strode stealthily over to Bruce's body, reaching down to grab the communicator out of his ear when his hand promptly jolted up and grabbed Wally's hand in mid-action.

Flash jumped back like he'd seen a ghost.

"Jesus Christ, Bruce. You almost gave me a heart attack!" Flash scolded, curling back into the corner he'd resided from.

"Force of habit," Bruce said still dazed from the previous proceedings.

"Would you like to sit up?" Shayera asked him. "We wrapped your ribs while you were passed out. There's enough pressure there to prevent most if not all the pain in your abdomen."

"Yes," Bruce stated.

Shayera and Flash moved swiftly and leaned Bruce up against the wall, providing some stability for the man's weakened body.

"Better?" She asked.

"Much," he returned

"What are you doing?" He asked glaring at the communication earpiece in her hand.

"Trying to make contact with J'ohn, but it seems the radiation down here has burned out all our receptors," she said looking down hopelessly at the one life-saving reception in her hand.

Not saying a word, Bruce laid out his hand. Shayera laid it carefully in his palm.

"Not discounting your abilities at all Bats, but if Shey and I's brain put together couldn't fix it, how will you be able to? Especially in your weakened state," Flash said being witty as always.

"And not discounting your abilities, but my brain has been trained in the same way that your body has. Hard. And also, it's my body that's weakened, not my mind."

"Man, Wally, the one who is closest to death seems to have unlimited rounds on the both of us," Shayera said leaning back against the same wall that was supporting Bruce.

For the first time that Shayera could remember, Bruce released a crack of a smile.

"Lucky for us, the receptor here doesn't look too damaged," Batman stated, maneuvering his steady hands around the pea sized object.

"How will you fix it?" She asked growing increasingly stressed.

Bruce looked up, seemingly not too phased by the lack of faith in his abilities.

Shayera, looking as defiant as ever, soon shrunk down, giving Bruce the satisfaction of being more intimidating.

"Will you both give me a moment? I can't concentrate with you both hovering over me like a pair of lost children."

They could tell he was frustrated, but that still didn't stop Wally from being as cunning as ever.

"What gives you the right? What makes you any different from us?" He growled, angered by Bruce's outbursts.

"The difference is, you couldn't solve it so you gave it to me to solve. The difference is, I am closer to getting us out of here than you ever were. That's the damn difference!"

Wally shrunk down.

Feeling the guilt weigh down on his chest, Bruce immediately apologized.

"I'm sorry, Wally. I know you want out of here bad, I do too, just let me work."

Wally seemed more shocked by his apology rather than his flare up.

Not feeling comfortable with his guard being down any longer, Bruce focused his attention quickly back on the monitor.

"It's on the wrong channel," Bruce said, "it must've gotten switched when the building came down. Where's the main receptor?"

Shayera and Wally must have searched under every collapsed pillar and every pile of rubble. Finally, they gave up.

"It must be out there," Wally said pointing at the wall. If it was out there, the three of them were without any means of communication. Bruce hoped Wally was wrong.

"So, we're stuck in here?" Flash whimpered.

"At least until someone notices that we're missing," Shayera tried to console.

"That could be hours!" Flash cried.

"And this is one of the largest skyscrapers in Metropolis. When they notice we're gone, it will take them days to search through all this debris," Batman said.

"We don't have that time," Shayera resolved.

"No," Bruce said, "we don't."


	2. something's wrong

Bruce had mustered the strength to stand, but damn, he's never felt pain like this before.

 _This can't just be a couple broken bones._

Nonetheless, he ignored it. Whatever it was, it could wait until they were out of here. At least he hoped it could.

He scanned all the area that he could see. Wally was moving debris around, Shayera was watching. It was almost like she'd given up. Bruce hadn't, so she didn't get to either.

"Get up," Bruce demanded as he limped over to her. She gave him a puzzled glare. "You heard me. Let's go."

His head was splitting. All he wanted to do was lie down, but there was no time. He would never say it in front of Wally, but if they don't find a way out soon, the building will collapse under the pressure, and Bruce wasn't sure how much time they had left.

Bruce led Shayera over to where Wally was rearranging.

"Hey, shouldn't you be resting?" Wally scolded upon seeing them.

"I'm fine," Bruce assured.

 _Not fine._

"Have you found anything so far?" Bruce questioned.

"Unless you care that these rocks are much heavier than they look, then no," he answered.

"I don't,"

"Didn't think so," Wally playfully shot back.

Humor was how Wally dealt with stressful situations. Bruce noticed it first when he was held hostage for several days with Bruce on some island in the tropics. Wally was uncharacteristically optimistic during that time. He's the same way now. Bruce always found it annoying, but today, when he felt as scared as Wally, it was comforting.

"How are you holding up?" he whispered so Shayera wouldn't hear.

"I'm doing my best," he answered more seriously.

"Okay," Bruce nodded, "keep doing what you're doing. Hold it together."

Bruce winced as he turned. _Damn it._

Whatever this pain was, it was getting worse. He couldn't tell them though. He couldn't worry them while they were still trapped.

Bruce sat down on another wall and began chipping away, careful not to disturb any hollow points. The other two did the same. All was quiet.

A couple hours must have passed before Wally spoke up again.

"Do you think we're getting out of here?"

Shayera and Bruce shared an equally concerned glance.

"I hope so, Wally," she said.

"What do you mean 'hope'? There has to be way out! Right, Bruce?"

Wally reminded Bruce of Dick during times like this. It must be the way he coils like a child when bad things happen, how he looks to others for guidance, or how he maintains such innocence through it all. Wally made Bruce miss Gotham. He missed his boys, he missed his family. Being stuck down here and unsure if he was ever going to see them again made it even worse.

"I miss my boys," Bruce admitted. Maybe a bit of honesty would help calm Wally down.

"Do you know what Dick would say right about now, Wally?" Bruce asked.

He shook his head.

"We'd be stuck down here with no way out and no way to communicate, and the first thing out of Dick's mouth would've been that he's starving."

The three of them started to laugh.

"There isn't a moment in the day that boy isn't hungry," Bruce said. "Reminds me of you, Wally."

Bruce's story seemed to have taken Wally's mind off of things for a while.

"Are you ever going back to Gotham, Bruce?" He asked.

"I hope so," Bruce said, "that's home."

Wally smiled. He'd worked with Bruce for over a year, and he'd never let anyone this close, not even Clark. It felt special, this moment that they shared, until Bruce felt excruciating pressure in his head. He tried painstakingly not to make it known. He turned and resumed his work, hoping that the pressure would subside.

He couldn't ignore it any longer. Whatever was happening, Bruce was convinced it was going to kill him.

He didn't remember hitting his head, but that is a possibility. He couldn't rule it out. From Bruce's extensive medical knowledge from working as a field medic as a young adult, it could be a number of things from an aneurysm, to a fractured skull, to an internal rupture. All of these things were fatal, but in Bruce's mind, he was already dead. He knew better, there was no getting out of here alive.

He sat down on a collapsed pillar as the two others watched.

"What are you doing, Bruce?" Shayera asked.

He shook his head. She knew what it meant. He'd given up.

"I'm just resting a minute," Bruce said, looking at Wally.

"You okay?"

"Fine," he returned.

 _Not fine._

"Hey Bruce, your nose is bleeding," Wally said.

Bruce reached his hand up to his nose and pulled it back only to find it coated with blood. He was bleeding much faster than a typical nosebleed.

"Woah, that's a lot of blood," Wally shakingly stated.

Bruce ripped the edge of his cape and used it to attempted to clot the bleeding.

 _It has to be internal bleeding._

"What do we do?" Shayera asked frantically.

"Calm down, both of you!" Bruce hollered, "I'm going to lay down to try and get this bleeding to stop. It's going to be fine. It's just a nosebleed."

"Yeah, it's just a nosebleed that you got after you hit your head and blacked out for 20 minutes. You're right, I'm sure it's nothing!" Shayera yelled.

Her panic was causing Wally to do the same.

"You are not helping," Bruce said calmly motioning to Wally, "we are trying to keep him calm, not make him as frantic as we are. Pull yourself together. We are all going to be fine."

This optimistic tone sounding disgusting on Bruce. Dick would've liked it though. God, he wants to see him again. He has to get through this. He has to. They all do. He's just not sure how long they all can hold on.


	3. someone's missing

**please, please review, follow, and favorite! I love hearing from you guys! -Hannah.**

* * *

"Anything, J'ohn?" Diana asked laying a hand on the martian's shoulder. He was cold. It wasn't a feeling she was used to. She was used to Bruce's warmth, and now that she was without it, she felt she'd taken advantage of all the times she curled into his body unconsciously through the night, or wrapped her arms around his shoulders, or pressed her forehead against his. It had only been 36 hours, but she missed the sound of his voice. She missed him coming home and her being asleep, but just awake enough to snuggle into the crease of his neck when he quietly crawled into bed. She missed the way he whispered in her ear to wake her up. She missed every part of him.

He had been at the computer for hours, at least since the three had been moved to priority one: whole tower was in turmoil. No one knew how to deal with the news. Most were quiet, not saying anything about it. As if denying it was going to make it go away. Others were frantic, asking everyone if they knew anything because the thought of losing Wally's jokes, Bruce's wisdom, and Shayera's personality was too much to stomach. It made Diana sick. Some of them had never spoken to any of them a day in their life. She caught herself cursing them, but she stopped herself. They are family, all of them. Even if they'd never spoken, the three of them meant just as much to them as they did to her.

Diana knew something was wrong this morning. It wasn't like Bruce to not come back to the tower overnight. She was the only one who ever really worried about him other than Clark, but even he had been able to separate his personal feelings from the fact that Bruce was as cold as callous as another planet. Diana couldn't, or wouldn't. The feelings that she had for him were real, and at times like this, she found herself feeling helpless and alone as she waited, hoping he'd come home.

"No, nothing. It's like they just disappeared. The Watchtower can't pick up any trace of their comlinks. They just...vanished."

The words hit like daggers in her chest. For the first time in her life, she didn't feel invincible. She felt as human as Bruce. She listened to his words as she imagined where they could be. She thought of them hurt, alone, maybe even dead. In comparison to all the other thoughts racing through her head, maybe that's what she hoped they were. Not because she didn't love them, but because she did. She didn't want them in pain, and if death is where he was instead of in her arms, she supposed she could find a way to accept that. As long as he was at peace, she would find a way to be too.

She laid her head against the back of J'ohn's chair. He felt the collapse of her weight and reached his hand back to rest it on her shoulder. She shuddered at his touch.

"We're going to find them, Diana."

"If they're still alive," Diana whimpered. "God, J'ohn, what if they're all lying dead somewhere?"

She winced at the thought. "And no one was there to hold them and be there with them before they died?"

He stood and faced her, the tears streaking her perfect complexion. He knew the truth behind her and Bruce. He was one of the few who did. She loved him, and she never had to tell J'ohn. The look in her eyes told him everything. He couldn't imagine how she could deal with Bruce's death. She would fall apart without him. When she was overwhelmed or hurting, Bruce was who she confided in. She didn't have anyone else.

"I know how you feel about him," he said calmly, "and I know you just want him to be here with you, safe. Trust me, I know how it feels to be helpless, to feel hopeless. To know that no matter what you do, he could still die."

Diana's eyes sparkled like stained glass. She couldn't imagine being up here alone. Being without Bruce was enough, but if she was going to be here, at least J'ohn was with her. Even though her heart ached to have Bruce here too.

"He can't die," she cried. "I was raised to live without men. I was taught to be my own warrior and to never sacrifice the things I loved for them, but Bruce is different. I loved him from the first moment I saw him. He kept me together. I need him here with me. I don't know how to live alone."

J'ohn pulled her head down to his shoulder and held her as she sobbed quietly.

"You're not alone," he said. "We are here with you. I know that we aren't Bruce, but we can try to be. We will be what you need."

Diana looked into his dark eyes. "He's so...fragile," she said. "What if he's dead? He can't be. He can't be because I didn't say goodbye. I wasn't there to hold him. I didn't cradle him in my arms. I didn't love him enough to keep him here."

Diana often imagined losing Bruce. It was something she tried to conceal. She imagined him taking his last breath into her chest as she held his face to her body. She imagined his last words to her, even though she never knew what he would say. She thought about it often. So much that she spent a lot of her life preparing for it.

"I've known Bruce for 3 years," he said lifting her head to face him. "He will come through this. He might be more human than any of us, but there's no one on this earth that I've ever met who has as much will and determination as that man. He would not leave you here alone. He will fight for you. He will survive this."

He smiled at her was as genuine a smile he could muster. "They all will."

"God," she said burrowing her face into his forehead, "I hope you're right."

Clark rose to the landing just as Diana broke away from J'ohn's grasp. He walked towards them, the dried tears on his cheek becoming more apparent as he came closer.

"I found something," he said quietly to be sure that those around him couldn't hear. He held out his closed fist and opened it to reveal a black tip.

"What is it?" Diana asked.

Before J'ohn could say anything, Clark answered. "It's the tip of one of our comlinks."

Diana's eyes lit up with a glimmer of hope

"They're somewhere in Metropolis."


	4. we're not giving up

Bruce had been lying face-up with his eyes closed for nearly an hour. Shayera knew better than to assume he'd let his guard down enough to sleep, but watching the calm rise and fall of his chest and hearing the gentle whistle of his breath, she wasn't sure he hadn't. It wouldn't surprise her considering the circumstances, just like it didn't surprise her to see Wally silently weeping in the corner away from the two.

She redirected her attention, moved her hand from atop Bruce's chest, and crouched down beside him. With the tears soaking his cheek, he whispered to her softly. "We're never getting out of here, are we, Shay?"

Shayera cracked a debris-ridden smile.

"You know, if you say something enough, you start to believe it," she said. "My mother used to say that to me. You don't really believe that, do you?"

She could play her confidence well in the light, but Wally had to have known better. Bruce did. She was just as scared as everyone else, but her confidence had to carry them through. She resolved herself to that already.

"I don't know," Wally admitted. "There's a lot that I don't know anymore."

Shayera's eyes fluttered back to Bruce's body. "Yeah, there's a lot that I don't know either," she said. "I don't know if the rest of them knows we're missing, but I'm going to carry on like they do."

Wally's eyes rose to meet hers.

"I don't know if this tower's going to collapse at any minute, but I've got to believe that it won't. I don't know if Bruce is going to survive the next hour, but I'm going to fight for him just like I'm going to fight for you."

Wally wiped the single tear from her eye. "Just like I always have," she choked.

"You welcomed me to this planet, and from that moment, I promised myself that I would protect my new family. I told myself that I would spend the rest of my days on this Earth repaying you for everything that you've done for me. I came to this world with nothing, and you've given me everything to live for. That's why I'm not giving up, and that's why you shouldn't either," she said.

Wally clasped his hands around hers. "I'm not giving up," he said. "Not until I feel Clark's hand on my shoulder of Diana's warm hugs. I'm not giving up until we're home. I promise."

Shayera closed her eyes and took a breath before fear struck her again. Her eyes opened.

"I've changed the dressing on Bruce's nose twice," she said as the severity of what was happening finally hit her. "He's bleeding too much. He never said it, but he knew that something was wrong, he had to have. Why wouldn't he say anything?"

"Because Bruce is Bruce," Wally reassured. "You know he wouldn't have said a thing, even if he knew that something was terribly wrong when he knew that there was nothing that could be done. He knew that there was nothing that could've been solved by him worrying us."

Wally paused to hear the distant passing of a train from outside.

"He was probably hoping that he would die quickly."

Shayera turned her head and cried. "He's been in pain," she sobbed, "and every silent moment was him praying for it to be over. God, he just wanted it to be over!" she wailed.

"Hey, hey," he tried to console. "We don't know that for sure. We have no way of knowing that. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it. He's asleep now. He's not in pain. Just focus on that," he said.

"Just breathe," Wally consoled, knowing that Shayera was in the midst of a panic attack. God, he wished Bruce was here. He would've been better at helping her through this.

"He's dying, Wally, and we can't stop it," she said through her cries. "We've created death so many times, but now," she couldn't finish her statement. It hurt her too much.

"Just stop thinking about it," he said. "We'll worry about it when we get there. Right now, we both need to rest."

Shayera shook her head. "I can't sleep. Not now. Not until he's awake. You sleep."

Wally wasn't going to argue with her. He'd learned first-hand today just how much Bruce meant to her. She needed some time alone with him. Before closing his eyes, Wally heard Shayera whisper into Bruce's ear.

"Don't leave us yet, Bruce. I can't tell Diana that you're gone."

He fell asleep.


	5. i'm not okay

**Sorry, this is a much shorter chapter. Review, follow, and favorite! Bye!**

* * *

Bruce always told him not to hang around too long when things got bad, that separation would be the easiest way to accept what had happened.

That's what Bruce did best.

He wasn't like Clark that way. Bruce could remove himself from even the most personal situations, Clark attached himself to them, and that's where Clark found himself dead center in the rubble of a broken down Metropolis: attached.

The crowd of onlookers had grown massively since Clark started his search two hours ago. He was here alone. No one with him. No one able to bear being with him.

If there was one quality Clark and Bruce shared, it was their fear. Both had rageful ways of showing it. Clark never used to handle his fear that way. In fact, Clark sometimes found fear easy to ignore altogether. All the late nights spent with Bruce had changed him. That, he was sure of.

It didn't matter to him anyway because he was scared. He was more scared than he's ever been.

The line of communication was static down here, but he could still hear well enough. "Anything, Diana?" He asked.

"Nothing on the satellite," she answered. "They aren't here."

Clark looked out on the dozens of skyscrapers collapsed on the horizon. It would take him days to sift through it all, and he had to remind himself that was assuming they were even alive now. The truth is, the odds that any of them, but Bruce, in particular, surviving a collapse like this was slight.

But he wouldn't give up.

The next hour was filled with tortuous thoughts of their deaths.

 _"If they had to die,"_ Clark thought, _"At least let it have been fast."_

"No, snap out of it, Kent," he said aloud. "You can't keep thinking like this. They're alive. They have to be."

"It's okay to be scared," Diana said, overhearing him. "You can't keep it bottled up. You might be stronger than steel, but these are your friend's lives we're dealing with. It's okay to be scared."

"You're scared too?"

"Of course I am."

The sun was beginning to set on another starless night in Metropolis. Bruce always complained about not seeing them in Gotham. Stars were a rarity there. I guess it made sense why he appreciated them so much. They were good company.

"Did Bruce ever tell you the story about the stars?" Clark asked. "About how-"

"They're always there. Even when you don't need them, and especially when you can't see them," she finished. "Yes, Clark, Bruce has told me that story many times."

Clark smiled. "I can't see them tonight," he said. "But maybe Bruce can, wherever he is."

"He's not dead, Clark," Diana said. "You have to hold on to hope. We will find them."

Silence filled the line. Clark couldn't speak. The ache took up too much space in his heart.

"I'm okay," Clark choked.

"Stop telling me you're okay," she said.

"I'm not."

"I know."


End file.
